Silver Orchid

Silver Orchid: Chapter Three

A/N: Hey! Thank you so much for reading my story. It really means a lot. I haven't been getting a great turn out on my story so it would be awesome if you could vote and comment. When you comment if you have any advice or any consrtuctive criticism definitely let me know. Thanks again! Enjoy!

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     "Who's there?" I called towards the part of the forest where he noise was coming from. I heard the rustling, and I called out again. I saw a dark figure coming out of the forest. My eyes grew wide and confusion crossed my face.

     "HI there." said the mystery figure. He had a somewhat thick British accent. It was a guy who looked to be about eighteen or seventeen years old. He had on basketball shorts and light grey t-shirt. His chestnut brown hair was messy, and had little leaves and small twigs stuck in it. He was barefoot, which seemed somewhat odd to me. "I'm Rhyker. I just moved here." He wore a genuine "nice to meet you" smile that matched the loo in his blue-grey eyes.

     I just stared at him not knowing what to say. I knew that this area was public property, but I had just never seen anyone else here before. I thought no one else really knew about it. I had forgotten about the fact that I was crying until I saw the expression on Rhyker's face change to concern.

     "Are you okay?", he asked as he walked over to me.

     "Y-yeah, I'm fine." I said as I quickly turned away and wiped away the tears from my cheeks. I just stared down at my hands that were resting on my knees in front of me.

     "I'm sorry. That was a really dumb question. You're obviously not fine." he stated as he sat down next to me on the bench. "I know you just met me, and have no idea who I am, but my friends say that I'm a good listener. So if you want to talk..."

     I looked up into his eyes and saw the concern from before, but this time it was accompanied by sincerity. I didn't want to go back to Demetri's house, but I still wanted to talk.

     "I wouldn't want to bother you with my problems. I'm sure you have stuff that's way more important than this."

     "No really, it's fine. And all I have waiting for me at home is a house full of boxes to unpack. Trust me, I want to help." he said. I could tell that he really meant it, so I decided to open up to him. I told him all about what went down with Demetri, and about my parents, and my weird emotions. 

     "So that's basically it." I said when I finished my recollection of today's more dramatic events.

     Rhyker was silent for a second, but then he went into a thinking pose. He was the kind who stroked their chin while they thought. It reminded me of my ex-boyfriend Tom, who did the same thing. After a couple of minutes he stopped stroking his chin and sat up straight.

     "Wow. Well if it makes you feel any better I lost my dad and my older brother five years ago when I was twelve." he admitted as he stared down at the grass beneath his bare feet. "It was really hard for me, and I didn't want to show a lot of emotion because I had to take over and be strong for my mom and little brother. One day, at school, some kid was being a right prick, and started talking about my family and how I wasn't tough since I didn't have a dad to teach me how to be tough." he sighed and looked right at me. "You know what I did?"

     "You walked away, and turned the other cheek?" I asked light-heartedly.

     He chuckled and looked down at the grass again. "That would be the right thing, huh? But nope. I had kept all those emotions bottled up inside me, and that was what fueled me to knock out that kid's front tooth and break his nose."

     I looked up at him and studied his face. I could see a mixture of emotions making their way across his face. "Wow." I breathed when he looked up at me.

     "Yeah, I know. I got a two weeek suspension for that. My mom understood though." he looked up at the sky, and I followed his gaze. The sun was setting and the clearing was getting darker. "It's getting late, and my mom is probably seconds away from winning the award for 'Most Worried Mom'.  I should go. Maybe I'll see you around?" he asked with what sounded like hope in his voice.

     "Yeah, maybe. Bye." I said as Rhyker walked back into the part of the forest that he had emerged from earlier. I got up and slipped on my flip flops. I started my trek back down to Demetri's.

~*~

     "Where have you been?!" Demetri shouted as he ran over and gave me a hug when I had walked back into the kitchen. "Look, Char, I am so sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean-"

     "Dem, it's fine." I interrupted him as I pulled away from his embrace. "I just walked up to the clearing, and hung out for awhile. No big deal."

     "Oh, okay. Well I ordered pizza for dinner, and Lizzy came back early. She decided to spend the rest of the weekend with us. She went back to her place to get some stuff, but she'll be back soon." Demetri said as he grabbed a Monster from the refrigerator.

     "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Hold up. Lizzy's back already?" I said with a huge smile making it's way across my face.

     "Yeah. Her parents let her come back early, but Xavier and Jack stayed with them."

     Jack was Liz's little brother, and Xavier was Demetri's. They did everything together. They were practically joined at the hip.

     "I'm going to go take another shower. The walk back was kind of messy." I said as I pulled out twigs and leaves from my hair. I left the kitchen and headed up the stairs to Demetri's room. I plugged in my iPod and cranked up the heat in the shower.